


this pain wouldn't be for evermore

by comfortcharacters



Series: evermore collection [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, M/M, the trials and tribulations of high school volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comfortcharacters/pseuds/comfortcharacters
Summary: Oikawa watches the national tournament. He can't get through it alone.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: evermore collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053434
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	this pain wouldn't be for evermore

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is inspired by taylor swift's "evermore"

Oikawa stared at his screen with quiet and seething rage. 

He watched his juniors compete against one of the most powerful teams in the country and hold their own, but all he could think about was the victory they wrenched out from under them a few short months ago. He still remembers the feeling of watching Hinata’s godly spike and Kageyama’s somehow godlier toss get blocked. He remembers the pure, unadulterated joy that rushed through his body as he ran up to cheer alongside his teammates. Years of commitment, of relentless practice, of meticulous research culminated in a single moment of victory.

He and Iwaizumi had stood side by side that day, confident that they would take on Shiratorizawa together and win. If they could defeat the ravaging crows after a competition that fierce, an endless deuce driving them all to exhaustion and misery, then nothing could stand in their way. 

But they lost, of course they did, because no one in their prefecture could take on someone like Ushijima and win that easily. Oikawa consoled his teammates, especially the third years, reminding them that their time for victory wasn’t over; the Interhigh qualifier was around the corner, and with just a bit more practice, a bit more commitment, a bit more of Oikawa pulling too much weight and pushing himself past his limits for the hundredth time since the season started, they could have a chance at Nationals. They could have a chance of seeing their dreams come true. 

It was almost poetic, somehow, that the final moment of their final set rested in Oikawa’s hands. 

It was almost poetic that they lost. 

On his tiny screen, Hinata made some insane shot he’s never seen before and Oikawa screamed, nearly throwing his phone against the ground for daring to betray him, showing him all the pixelated glories of his rivals and all the details of his failures. A woman stared at him from the middle of the street, scandalized, and Oikawa remembered to put his mask of normalcy back on, humming some inane pop tune under his breath and ignoring the child commenting on his weirdness. 

He swore he’d stop following their matches back in October, when he and Iwaizumi watched Karasuno do the impossible and defeat Shiratorizawa. He got up in a huff that day and swore he’d stop putting himself through the pain of watching Tobio get better and more talented than he thought possible, propelled by his natural genius to greater heights than Oikawa could ever dream of. Iwaizumi had trailed silently behind him, knowing that Oikawa needed time before he processed it all – they both imploded, side by side, walking towards Oikawa’s house and conveniently forgetting to talk about their pain until it became a little easier to bear.

November passed by in a gray fog, both of them concentrating on studies and practice matches with little pushing them forward.

By December, they forgot what it felt like to have something to fight for.

Oikawa finally came back home from his run, flushed with sweat and anger, ready to tear out his blue running earbuds and blast music in his room alone. He saw Iwaizumi standing on the street corner, absentmindedly scrolling on his phone. Iwaizumi looked up when he heard Oikawa’s panting breaths, eyebrows shooting up at the expression on Oikawa’s face. 

“Oy, Oikawa, are those my earbuds? I’ve been looking for those for ages,” he said, coming closer to Oikawa, stealing one end of the earbuds, and shoving it in his ear. “Is this the Top 100 station?”

“Shut up, Iwa-chan. Don’t bring your music supremacy here. I’m having a Day.”

“Yeah, no shit. You look like you’re about to collapse.” Iwaizumi paused, grabbed Oikawa’s face in his hands and squinted at him as Oikawa stared back angrily. 

“And what’s with that scowl? Aren’t you worried about getting early-onset wrinkles or something?”

“I’m doing absolutely peachy, Iwa-chan. Nothing like a bit of sports TV to get you riled up for a run, right?”

“Oh, that. Is the match today?” Iwaizumi pulled up his calendar and peered at the date. “Doesn’t final term start in a couple of days, too? Winter break flew by. We never even got to do our movie marathon.”

“Forget about final term! How did you forget that the team we have sworn to hate for all eternity is competing today?”

“You don’t think you’re being a bit dramatic?”

“Eternity, Iwa-chan. Eternity.”

“Well, I think you’re the only one who hates them, Shittykawa. I have my hometown pride. And I know the rest of our team is probably huddled up around a laptop somewhere, too. They’ll show Japan that country boys can win at nationals and we’ll all be winners, then. Or something like that,” Iwaizumi said, smiling his rare, cheeky smile at Oikawa’s incredulous glare.

“You know, you’re gonna need plastic surgery if you keep twisting your face like that, dumbass,” Iwaizumi scolded as he pinched Oikawa’s cheeks. 

“Why do you have to push me when I’m down?”

“If I don’t do it, who will?” Iwaizumi said, grabbing Oikawa’s arm and dragging him away from the street corner. 

“Come on. I’m taking you to the park.”

“I need a shower, Iwa-chan. I might scare children smelling like this.”

“You already scare children. And I think you might need company more than you need a shower.”

They walked side by side towards the closest park in their neighborhood. The cold weather kept the park deserted, and the impending sunset bathed the patches of grass in shades of orange. Oikawa’s traitorous subconscious pictured Hinata’s hair, instead, but Iwaizumi dragged him down to sit together before he could get agitated all over again. 

They sat in silence for a while, listening to each other’s breathing. Minutes passed by, maybe hours, but Oikawa forgot to keep track. He kept replaying moments from October in his head, and Iwaizumi turned his head in question when he heard Oikawa’s breath get shallower, his heart get heavier. 

“Does it get even better than this, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa said, shakily smiling into the disappearing traces of light. “We’re going to college soon. We’ll get to play volleyball again. We’ll be playing for who knows how long. Who cares about high school nationals, anyway? We have all of university to look forward to.” 

“It’s everything we ever dreamed of, isn’t it?” Iwaizumi said, stretching out languidly on the cold ground beneath him. 

Only Oikawa could see the tears that threatened to form in the corners of his eyes. He pretended not to notice, just like Iwaizumi pretended not to hear Oikawa take an unsteady inhale before moving closer to him, snuggling against Iwaizumi’s warmth and grabbing his hand as the January winds picked up steam. 

“You’re gonna catch a cold, Shittykawa. Couldn’t bother to grab a jacket before coming out with me?”

“You’re the one who dragged me here, against my will. I’m entitled to emotional compensation.”

“You’re entitled to stop being a brat, for once.”

“I know you don’t mean that, Iwa-chan. I know you’re gonna miss me so much in university.”

“… Yeah.”

“Yeah?” Oikawa asked, leaning his head back to look at Iwaizumi, who pointedly refused to look in his direction.

“Yeah. Of course, I’m going to miss you. It’d be stupid to pretend I wouldn’t,” Iwaizumi mumbled, his hand coming to play with the tufts of hair at Oikawa’s neck. If Oikawa didn’t know any better, he’d think a pale blush was beginning to form on Iwaizumi’s cheeks.

Emboldened, Oikawa leaned up and softly pressed a kiss to Iwaizumi’s blush. Iwaizumi turned bright red, and Oikawa sat up, sheepishly running his hand through his own hair as Iwaizumi looked at him in disbelief and awe.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I can’t have you forgetting me in uni, can I? That’s just one for the road.”

“You know we don’t graduate until March, right? I have months of dealing with your shit before I even have the chance to forget you.”

“Well. Guess we’ll have to make the most of it until then, won’t we?” Oikawa said, laughing softly at the huff that Iwaizumi let out before dragging Oikawa down by his side again, wrapping him in his arms as Oikawa let out another involuntary shiver to the cold, the anticipation of new beginnings, or both.

Oikawa listened to Iwaizumi’s rapid heartbeat and, for once, he forgot to remember the pain of failure.

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking of making a fic based on the infamous Oikawa's ear scene for the Memes, but I saw the honest opportunity for healing and ran with it. 
> 
> 4th installment in my evermore series! hope you all enjoy the angst


End file.
